Russia 2017: The Boys Have Been Separated From the Men

russia 2017 - men separated from boys

Since the 17th of June, it has been non-stop action in the FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia.

Okay, we agree, there have been a few breaks here and there. But, on the overall, the tournament that features champions from around the world has lived up to, and even surpassed, expectations.

From VARs making controversial calls to coaches hurling swear words at each other, Russia 2017 has definitely been memorable. What of action on the pitch?

The boys from Mexico have become the tournament’s “comeback kings,” coming from behind to either salvage a point (in their game against Portugal) or take all three points (in their games against New Zealand and Russia).

While it took C. Ronaldo two games to get his first goal of the tournament, the Portuguese youngsters have shown themselves worthy with both Silvas (A. Silva and B. Silva) showing their class.

The Russians put up quite a fight against Portugal but fell short of the mark while the New Zealanders always played tough, no matter who they came up against.

In Group B, the young German side has got all praising Joachim Low, the German coach. They don’t look as solid (as was made evident against Chile) but they get what they want, when they want it (all their games proved this point).

With the tournament averaging over 2.5 goals per game, do you think this trend will continue?
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Chile’s superstars put on an organized show of flexibility, trickery, and tactical nous. Their counterattacks happened at lightning-fast speed and made life miserable for most of their opponents.

Cameroon seemed to have come to the tournament with one striker – V. Aboubakar – who they contentedly watched fluff chances after chances as they came.

And for the Socceroos, they did well but it wasn’t enough.

The list of eight teams has now been whittled down to four. Portugal and Germany qualified as group winners while Mexico and Chile finished runners-up. And this leads us to the business end of the competition.

In the first semi-final, Portugal faces Chile. With a war of words already started, you can expect nothing short from this one. The fast Chileans up against a quite unpredictable Portuguese side.

Portugal and Chile have not failed to score since the tournament began.
Will both teams score when they clash?
Which team will score first?
Which team will qualify?
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In the other game, Germany takes on Mexico, a game between two sides that play free-flowing football. It’s a tight one which is still too hard to call.

There’s been an average of at least 3 goals in every game the Germans featured in. The same with Mexico.
With this stat in mind, will the Germany vs. Mexico game see over 2.5 goals?
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The excitement continues in Russia and we can’t wait. But while we’re waiting, we’d like to know: Which team has impressed you the most in the tournament so far? Which team has been disappointing?

Leave us a comment and let us know what you think. We could even start a conversation; a conversation that’ll be started with your comment. Let’s go!